Giant bike spotted in parktown north

[Puncher]

- no helmet, gloves or any cycling attire

- tekkies on clip-in pedals (nonsense, my bike with clip-in pedals is unrideable without the correct shoes as anything just slips off)

- 2 bottle cages and rear reflector, so there's been some money spent on this bike, whether it is entry level or cheap in the reader's eyes are irrelevant. This bike could fetch R3000-R5000 2nd hand IMO and that's a lot for many people.

- speed sensor visible on front wheel (again, money was spent), which implies the bike gets used for training purposes (in addition to commuting purposes)

 

At the same time, I also wonder and would enjoy clarification as to why the post was made after credentials were "verified"? OP, do you believe they lied about the validity of the ownership? 

 

Anyone who immediately jumped to "is it because he's black??", is akin to a backwards human and you need to wake up to 2019. The ignorance and moral high ground rhetoric is weak and disgusting. Most racists I encounter are in fact the "defenders against racism". Lekker walking through life with a mindset limited by horse blinkers hey. When I'm out riding, I look at every bike and compare it to the rider's equipment - if they don't match, it raises suspicion. I appreciate reports like these as when the day comes that I get hijacked, I'll be hoping it's my bike that gets spotted in a situation like this.

 

Most racists I encounter are in fact the "defenders against racism" - Straight out of Trumps handbook me thinks. I dont have the time nor emotional resolve to play matchy machy with every rider I come across on the trail. You'd definitely report me , I dont look like I should be riding a SC Nomad - but hey I promise its mine to can ask the Boss Lady ! 

[Long Wheel Base]

I came here thinking I would see a picture of a really big bike in parktown. O well.

[Simon Kolin]

Guys I'm just posting a sighting here, please don't make it something it isn't. I can tell you the full story here if you wish but I didn't feel it necessary as this isn't an investigate journalism article.

One point being this bike has cleat pedals and he isn't wearing cleats here.

So get the poor guy some proper cycling shoes....

[Hairy]

- no helmet, gloves or any cycling attire - We have commuters in our group who do shorter distances to town and ride in civies, one of them on a roadie bike with roadie SPD's. There is a multitude of hipsters in town on fancy bikes and no helmets. I also pass lots of regular commuters in civies with no helment on a daily basis.

- tekkies on clip-in pedals (nonsense, my bike with clip-in pedals is unrideable without the correct shoes as anything just slips off) See above  .... I can bunny hop my roadie commuter with SPD's and takkies. One of our commuters often rides his SPD bike in takkies.

- 2 bottle cages and rear reflector, so there's been some money spent on this bike, whether it is entry level or cheap in the reader's eyes are irrelevant. This bike could fetch R3000-R5000 2nd hand IMO and that's a lot for many people. There was a commuter who used to pass us daily ona cr@p bike, he did this for over a year in horrid weather till he saved up enough to buy a half decent Scott. This Scott was unfortunately stolen from him a couple of months later.

- speed sensor visible on front wheel (again, money was spent), which implies the bike gets used for training purposes (in addition to commuting purposes) RE the speed sensor and water bottle cages ... if the bike was bought second hand it is very likely that the bike came with this already fitted .... or if the commuter does some mileage on his bike over the weekends when wearing his shinny SPD shoes he may want to know how far he has ridden then keep hydrated. Again, this description fits well with another commuter in our group.

 

At the same time, I also wonder and would enjoy clarification as to why the post was made after credentials were "verified"? OP, do you believe they lied about the validity of the ownership?  Good Question

 

Anyone who immediately jumped to "is it because he's black??", is akin to a backwards human and you need to wake up to 2019. The ignorance and moral high ground rhetoric is weak and disgusting. Most racists I encounter are in fact the "defenders against racism". Lekker walking through life with a mindset limited by horse blinkers hey. When I'm out riding, I look at every bike and compare it to the rider's equipment - if they don't match, it raises suspicion. I appreciate reports like these as when the day comes that I get hijacked, I'll be hoping it's my bike that gets spotted in a situation like this. ? ? ? ? 

[dirtypot]

I commute to work on my bike (back roads and shortcuts makes it quicker than driving) in jeans and takkies with SPD's.  I ride with the GPS on the stem because I'm too lazy to take it off.  Does this make me look suspect?  If someone takes pictures of me and stops me to interrogate me, I'm likely to lose my cool.  

[Gnarly]

Not that it makes a difference, those pedals look like flats and not SPD's. 

 

Feel sorry for the guy getting interrogated and accused of theft from a security company, no wonder he was terrified. 

[NGM]

Not that it makes a difference, those pedals look like flats and not SPD's. 

 

Feel sorry for the guy getting interrogated and accused of theft from a security company, no wonder he was terrified. 

Since we're all just assuming everything, he was probably shaking because he is Malawian or Zimbabwean and it's been a rough month for them.

 

In the bigger picture, I've eaten humble pie a couple of times on Bikehub when a "suspcious person" did indeed turn out to be a crook and the bike was in fact missing. On all of those occasions though, the OP knew the value of the bike. This bike can't be worth more than R5K and looks completely normal in the context of that picture. 

 

Wherever you are in the world, if you don't know the value of something, it really makes no sense to follow somebody and then ask them to justify why they own it.  

 

The whole "Ah I'm just asking the question, no harm done" is BS. It's not your place to say if there's no harm done. Maybe there was no harm done. But only the bike owner can answer that. 

[T-Bob]

Of course everyone has missed the main issue here... how high were his socks? 

[Butterbean]

I feel like a better approach here would have been the following :

 

Dude spots the commuter, feels like it's a dodgy situation. Follows and gently asks about ownership. Perhaps frames it with some bike related questions. Meets the boss lady and gets the bike vouched for.

 

Feels like his gut is telling him something different. So then, instead of an accusatory post alongside a stolen bike post, best would be to post up saying something like, I think this bike could be stolen. If you think it's yours, let me know and I have the address recorded so you can attempt a possible recovery on proof of ownership.

 

This is the kind of "looking out for fellow cyclists" I want. I think the assumption was very biased and overzealous.

 

We obviously don't want attention to bikes to stop, in the hope that, like many lady stories, we can recover stolen bikes. But we also can't be acting like anyone who doesn't fit the bill can't own their own bike. Bikes are the best way for this country to get moving and lift people out of poverty, increasing family time and reducing traffic and pollution on the roads...

 

In short: don't be a ****.

[Andrew Steer]

Everything about this post just makes me so incredibly sad...
We've got a ton of work to do as a society

[Pure Savage]

I actually have a bike I would like to donate in Cape Town, preferably Claremont area. 

 

It has a speedo and a water bottle, dont panic. 

[Hairy]

I actually have a bike I would like to donate in Cape Town, preferably Claremont area. 

 

It has a speedo and a water bottle, dont panic. 

when you hand out those bikes, do they come with Bootleggers coffee vouchers

[Pure Savage]

when you hand out those bikes, do they come with Bootleggers coffee vouchers

I wish 

[Hairy]

I wish 

never saw you this morning for a cortado and bannaaannaaabread

[Pure Savage]

never saw you this morning for a cortado and bannaaannaaabread

My bad, school run [emoji51]

[arendoog]

I gave an old On One to the son of a lady that works with me. Unfortunately he now needs to ride with a letter in his pocket with me giving him permission to use a gift as his only transport. So liberating isn't it.

The letter or the On one ?